The best kind of suffering

Backcountry hunters know one thing, and we relish it — when a big game animal is down, the real work begins. We say it with a smile, because we know that all of the preparation, planning, training, luck and hard work to get us to this very moment, when we are laying our hands on the antlers, and running our palms across the bristly hair of a bull elk’s flank, we know we now must get all of this out of the woods, and into a freezer. It is suffering, on a very self-imposed, enjoyable level, actually, and that is something I look forward to each season; a heavy pack, loaded up for home.